Will Greece leave the Eurozone?

What is the world coming to?

When asked for a sign of his return Jesus told his disciples (Luke 21)

25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;* 26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

And that’s just like today’s world with its turmoil and uncertainty! The most current example being Greece and its problems. After inconclusive elections on May 6th, efforts are still being made to try to secure a workable government. It won’t be easy as most Parties want to ditch the acceptance of austerity policies in exchange for bailouts.

If the cliff-edge talks fail, and a workable coalition can’t be cobbled together, Greece will face fresh elections, prolonged political instability and a possible slide towards an exit from the Euro. Most Greeks appear to want to stay with the Euro but are hoping for better terms which the rest of the Eurozone do not want to offer.

Greece and its Eurozone partners have come close to the brink before, and always found a way to step back. Experience would suggest they will do so again.

However, a recent analysis by economists Goldman Sachs showed that nations like Spain, Greece, and Portugal have little room for manoeuvre. Even if they could reduce labour costs by cutting wages by a third, recovery would still be very slow and would suit no one, not even Germany. Nor would austerity please the Greek voter who is demonstrating against the measures already agreed.

Dawn of the Far Right

Throughout Europe the Far Right are capitalising on these problems and in Greece in the poorest areas the Political Party ‘Golden Dawn’ has become strong.

Throughout Europe the Far Right are capitalising on these problems and in Greece in the poorest areas the Political Party ‘Golden Dawn’ has become strong.

It promotes hard line solutions which seem to gel with many who decry Greece’s huge immigration problem and the past Government’s inability to deal with it. Golden Dawn are often labelled neo-Nazis and while helping the poorest Greek citizens they don’t hide the fact that they approve of many of Hitler’s policies. Their party symbol, based on an ancient Greek motif, looks a lot like a Swastika and their party leader, Nikos Michaloliakos, recently claimed that Nazi concentration camps did not use ovens and gas chambers to exterminate Jews during the Holocaust.

Similarly many in the rest of Europe are developing the attitude of ‘secure borders- no immigrants’. In France, the National Front Leader Marine Le Pen gained the party's highest ever share of the vote in the first round of the presidential elections and, no doubt influenced by financial problems, more people in countries like Holland and Denmark are turning to the Far Right.

Because of the problems in Greece, Global Financial Markets are worrying about the strength of the Euro and have started buying dollars instead. All European Nations are feeling the pinch, and are likely to suffer more in the near future with the exception perhaps of Germany.

So the Greeks, Spanish and Portuguese along with others have found that membership of the Eurozone has not brought them parity with wealthier Nations but austerity, cutbacks , unemployment and failing economies. With the Germans in particular insisting that they should abide by the rules ie face years of low wages and austerity, small wonder it seems that Europe appears to be ‘going critical’.

A Train Wreck in Slow Motion

Can it be then, that we are seeing the EU slowly disintegrate before our eyes? The Bible indicates otherwise with the Book of Revelation prophecying that the other members of the EU will hand over their powers to Germany (The Beast) before the day when they oppose the Lord Jesus Christ at his return.

Rev 17:12 “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. 13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”

In view of this prophecy we would expect Europe to be unifying rather than disintegrating. In Revelation the beast is a symbol used to track the Roman Empire through it's various phases; from Pagan Rome, to the Holy Roman Empire and on. The symbology is explained by looking at Daniel chapter 7. There he sees four beasts which represent the procession of the Kingdoms of men (Dan 7:17). The beasts are a lion, a bear, a leopard and a very frightening ten horned beast. The Lion represents the Babylonian Kingdom, the Bear is the Medo Persian Kingdom which followed. The Leopard represents Greece and the 4th beast is Rome which was the cruellist of all. In the book of Revelation we find these 4 beasts again this time rolled into one ! (Rev 13:1-2).

Rev 13:2"And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."

Daniel 7 shows how the Roman Empire is formed out of previous Empires. The book of Revelation continues the story of the Roman Empire which has persecuted Christ’s servants down through the centuries.

Yet, is it feasible that in the near future the members of the Eurozone will meekly hand over their power to Germany, the beast portrayed in Revelation? The answer is yes! Today is surely the time the Lord Jesus spoke of in Luke 21:25 quoted earlier ‘ And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;’

A train wreck of mammoth proportions appears to be just round the curve, and beleaguered governments may see this union as the only way out of anarchy. In August last year the Mail Online carried a headline “Rise of the Fourth Reich, How Germany is using the Financial Crisis to Conquer Europe." Commenting upon a meeting between the German and French leaders, the paper said "Frau Merkel called for a 'stronger coordination of policy' and 'a new quality of cooperation' within the Eurozone and went on "Although she will not yet admit it, this all suggests the first step has been taken towards a fiscal union that will leave Germany dictating the financial terms for the rest of Europe.”

"... fiscal union means:... one economic policy, one taxation system, one social security system, one debt, one economy, one finance minister. And all of the above would be German."

"If such a plan succeeded it would make Europe effectively a German Empire, with non-Eurozone countries such as Britain on the sidelines..."

"This would entail a loss of sovereignty not seen in those countries since many were under the jackboot of the Third Reich 70 years ago."

Consider Rev 17:12 again

"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast."

God’s solution to the world’s problems

Here we see the nations of Europe handing over their sovereignty to the beast empire. With the rapidly worsening situation what choice will they have? The single currency Euro option has proved unworkable, and can only get worse. So what are the options:-

Return to their own currencies and face inflation plus the nightmare of converting all legal documents, mortgages etc to the drachma or the peseta etc.

Or, complete monetary and political integration. This would seem much safer, even though it comes with the loss of sovereignty. It may take time, but as we have seen, the Scriptures indicate that Europe will ultimately be one body as in the days of the Holy Roman Empire with the rulers of Europe surrendering their power and strength to the beast. Then Anti-Semitism will re surface and jealous eyes will look at Israel, prosperous and at peace. When Jesus returns to reign from Jerusalem, and re-establishes the Jewish kingdom in Israel, this Beast Empire (unified Europe), aided by the False Prophet (the Papacy) and accompanied by the Dragon (Russia) will oppose him and will fall. Revelation speaks of their work in raising up the nations to oppose Christ (Rev16:13-16) and Chapter 17 continues in verse 14:

“These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”

The present financial crisis in Greece and the rest of Europe is heartbreaking but it will bring Joy in its wake for all who look for the return of Jesus.

Luke 21: 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

[*The Sea in Scripture usually represents Nations ie Isa 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. Rev 17: 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.]